First real love
by Eunomia
Summary: Casey is new in town and she meets Derek. Their parents have never met. Will Derek be able to win Caseys heart, though she tries to ignore him?
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

I do not own life with Derek or the characters

First real love

Chapter 1

The icehall

Casey McDonald was just doing a little ice skating when suddenly a lot of guys entered the hall, wearing uniforms. She considered that it was the local high school's hockey team because they started playing hockey right away and of course because of the uniforms, their protection and because the guys all seemed to be her age, around sixteen. So she had to leave the ice, to prevent one of the guys shooting accidentally a puck at her a puck at her.

She just had moved here with her mother Nora and her sister Lizzie. After her parents got a divorce her Mum decided that it would be the best thing to start over, so they moved London and left Toronto and Casey's old school behind. She actually did not want to leave and go to a new school, because she had been really happy and satisfied at her old school. It had been an all girls private school, she always had been the best student of the year and had nevertheless been very popular. She knew that this was very seldom, because ambitious students were anything but popular at public schools. Now she had to go to John Sparrow Johnson High, the local public high school of London, where she did not know anybody. After not having anything to do at home because all of her books were still packed in boxes because there were no shelves yet and her mother was still trying to organize everything at their new house, which was a total chaos, she decided to go ice skating. At the moment her Mum was driving her crazy with all her running around to tell the removal men were to put all the furniture. But now it looked like she had to stop that, too. Not knowing what else she could do, she decided to stay, to sit down on a bench and to watch the boys play.

She only sat there for about five minutes when noticed that one of the guys looked at her more than once. He seemed to be the forward because he made almost all of the goals his team shot and he was wearing a C on his chest and the number nine at the back of his jersey. His family name seemed to be Venturi. When he did not look at her, she looked over to him, he looked really cute. He had brown hair, that he wore a little longer and he was smaller than his teammates, who all seemed to be giants, but he still had an athletic build and he had a normal height. He kept looking at her during the whole practice and when they finally walked off the ice to go the locker room, so that they could have showers and change into casual clothes, Casey stepped on the ice again and started skating.

She was a pretty good skater and was very fit because she had been dancing since she was five. After a little while she noticed that she was not alone anymore and she turned around to find out who was watching her. There was the hockey forward that looked at her during his practice and he came towards her, not skating, but walking on the ice.

"Hey.", he said with a smile on his face and Casey bet all of her money that he could get every girl he wanted with that smile and that he knew that.

"Hey yourself", she answered and stopped skating. Now they were standing in front of each other on the big, empty rink and Casey did not really know what to do. After all she did not know him and boys like him always made her nervous. She was not really experienced with boys and he was a good-looking athletic guy who seemed to be very popular because after practice everybody on the team shook hand and they all joked around with him on their ways out. She did honestly not know what to say because she did not talk to boys very often, but at least she knew that he was not her type.

"My name is Derek Venturi."

"I'm really happy for you."

His reaction was incredibly funny because he suddenly stopped smiling and looked a little surprised by her response. He was asking himself if it could happen that he had lost his touch. He seemed to be the type of guy who got every girl he wanted just snipping his fingers. She did not like guys like that, they were arrogant and too fond of themselves and she was not the kind of girl to fall for a player like that. She wanted a boyfriend who was funny, smart, caring, and sweet and who had a good sense of style, though the outer appearance was not so important to her, her future boyfriend should not look like an idiot. Of course she thought he cute and good-looking, but he was exactly the type of guy Casey wanted to avoid, so she decided to stay as far away from him as she possibly could and to give annoying answers, so that he would realize that he should look for another girl to play his games with. Just because of his way of talking and his cute gestures, how he combs with his hand through his hair, she knew that he was a player who probably already had dated all the girls at school at least once and never had a girlfriend for longer than a week.

Though he was surprised by her answer he was not demotivated. Maybe he had to make more an effort to find out more about this girl and to make her go out with him. That had never been necessary because all the girls at school wanted to go out with him, but something made this girl different and he really liked that. Something made her a lot more interesting than the other girls that he had dated before. Of course all the girls he had dated had been very pretty, but normally they had not been the smartest once and usually he had them in the palm of his hands after using his famous Derek Venturi smile. She challenged him right away and he actually liked the fact that she was not so easy to get.

"Do you have a name?", he asked hoping, that she would give him a normal answer this time, but she seemed have made the decision never to give him an answer that he expected.

"Yes." Fine, she wanted to keep playing, but one time she had to give him a real answer, she was not able to avoid his questions forever.

"So, we finally figured out that you have a name. Why don't you tell me your name then?"

"Because you didn't ask for it."

"Okay", he said with a big smile forming on his lips, which looked like an apology and even Casey had a little on her lips by now.

She thought that it was very funny to be that quick-witted and how she tried to annoy him a little so that he would give up, but in that case she was apparently not successful. He in fact seemed a little annoyed, but he did not show the smallest sign of resignation. He had to be the most patient person in the entire world and he was so incredibly stubborn, she did everything else but expect that. Instead of just giving up and finding somebody else, he put on a even brighter smile, if that was possible, and tried again.

"You're right, my fault. Why should you tell me your name, when I wasn't clever enough to ask for it. Let me start over again." He held out his right hand for her to shake it.

"Hey, my name is Derek Venturi. What's your name?"

To her own surprise she took his hand to shake it and the even bigger surprise was the tingle she could feel where both of their hands touched. She tried really hard not to blush, but she could really feel her cheeks reddening. Derek noticed this with satisfaction, she did show him the cold shoulder, but he had to have an effect on her, or she would not react like that. Maybe she could feel the same tingle in her hand that he could feel in his. Her reaction motivated him to keep flirting with her, because now he knew that there was something not only from his side. She could deny it as much as she wanted to, she had feelings for him, even if she did not know about it.

"My name is Casey McDonald.", she answered letting go of his hand, but she could still feel the tingle. She tried to ignore the feeling in her hand and this strange and unknown sentiment in her stomach. What was that feeling? Never, in her whole life, she had felt that way and she was confused about it.

"Hi Casey, that is a really pretty name that you have there." She rolled her eyes, but he just ignored it, though the phrase normally had shown a better reaction. Another thing that was different about Casey McDonald.

"Are you new in town? I don't think I have seen you before and I'm sure I would remember a girl like you." Wow, when he kept talking like this she would never be able to stop rolling her eyes, for the rest of her life. Probably guys all had the same book with phrases to hit on girls, but the phrases Derek used were really the most ordinary once. Everybody had used or heard them, how could they still be successful?

"Yeah, we just moved here Toronto." Suddenly she couldn't not think of anything quick-witted anymore, her mind was a total blank. It was like all the deep thoughts she usually had had disappeared and were nowhere to be found. Something like this had never happened before.

"Really? What high school will you go to?", he asked this question expecting a special answer. There were just two high schools in London, so he had a fifty-fifty chance.

"John Sparrow Thompson High." And he got the special answer he had hoped for.

"Well, I go to the same school, so I think we'll see each other pretty often there. _Oh no, _she thought, _going to the same school like him won't make my plan easy. How can I get out of his way every day of the week for about eight hours? That is impossible. Hopefully we don't have classes together or the same lunch time, he seems to be a junior like me. _

When she did not say anything she decided just to go for it.

"Hey, would you like to go out with me on Friday night? We could go catch a movie or something." Though a part of her really wanted to accept his suggestion, the part that had these strange feelings, Casey answered with her other part, the rational part.

"No, thanks."Without giving him a reason why she did not want to out with him, she turned around and skated to the exit. That really surprised him because he thought that he had her. Obviously he had been wrong, but that did not discourage him. Once in his life it was not easy for him to get the girl he wanted, but he wanted to take the challenge and to change her mind, so that she would go out with him. That could not be that difficult, could it? He did not doubt that he would get her because what Derek wants, Derek gets. And with a plan already in his head he walked off the icehall.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

I do not own life with Derek or any of the characters.

Chapter 2

First day madness

Today was Casey's first day at school so she was incredibly nervous. She did not sleep well the last night but she was not quite sure if it was because of her first day at the new school or if it was this guy that she had met the day before at the icehall. She could not even remember his name. Okay, this was just a simple lie, his name was Derek and she could not stop thinking about him the whole evening until she finally got to sleep. No, of course she was nervous because of her first day at the new school. How can a person be not nervous on the first day of something? That was absolutely impossible.

After about ten minutes she was still standing in front of her wardrobe but she just could not figure out what to wear. It was always the same with Casey, when she was nervous she made a drama out of nothing. Another ten minutes and five times her mother called her to come down for breakfast she decided to put on some jeans and a pink sweater and walked down the stairs and into the kitchen.

Her mother and Lizzie were sitting at the counter eating waffles. Her Mum had not made waffles or anything else for breakfast for quite a long time. Usually they all ate cereal because they just did not have the time in the morning, but she tried to make their first day at school as comfortable as possible. Even though Nora had been through a hard time she still tried to make the new start easy for her daughters.

"Wow, that looks great. You didn't have to do that, you know?", Casey told her Mum while pouring orange juice into a glass a sitting down next to Lizzie at the counter.

"Yeah, I know, but I have to start working tomorrow so I thought I'd make you a nice breakfast today as long as I still can during the week.", she said smiling.

They ate their breakfast talking about this and that and then they grabbed their things to go school. Her Mum dropped Lizzie first and then drove to Casey's new high school. She took a couple of deep breaths and her mother noticed how nervous she was.

"Hey, are you okay? You look upset." Now Nora was concerned, maybe the new start was not such a good idea, though she really liked London and the new house. But she did not think a lot about the decision to move, she got offered the new job and thought it would be easier not to think the whole time about her and Dennis´ divorce when she would not live in the same house anymore. But it had to be difficult for Lizzie and Casey to loose their father and their friends.

Casey could see at her mother's face that she started reproaching herself and felt really sorry about making such a drama out of everything. She knew that it was easier for her Mum here where not everything reminded her of Dad.

"Mum, stop worrying! Everything is fine, I really like it here."

"Really? Because it doesn't look that. Probably we should have stayed in Toronto, all your friends were there and the divorce was anything but easy for the two of you."

"Mum, all Lizzie and I need is to see you happy and you look a lot happier here than in Toronto. We can find friends here, too. It will just take a while to get to know people. I should go, I first have to go the registry to get my schedule and the locker. Oh, and I have to find the registry and my new locker, so it's going to be challenging day." She gave her Mum a big smile and a hug, then she got out of the car. Casey stayed on the parking lot waving until her mother left.

When she could not see her mother anymore, she turned around just to face her next challenge: Derek. How could he find her so fast? And what was he doing at school at about eight o'clock? Only new students arrived so early because there were so many things to organize, but the other students normally arrived at about twenty to nine.

He had a big and charming grin in his face again. "What a surprise to meet you again, Casey!"

"Oh, sure. What a surprise!", she said sarcastically.

"You know, when you talk like that it seems like you wouldn't like me, though I was just trying to be nice to you." While saying that had his hand on his chest like she would have hurt him there.

"Really? I don't think that anybody can hurt a guy like you.", then she walked passed him to go the school building. Of course Derek followed inside. Nobody was at school at this time except a few students who still seemed to do homework for class or who were preparing a presentation. Casey decided just to ignore because she was sure that he would go away when he was bored.

"Can I help you finding what you are looking for?", he offered his help still following her.

"No, thank you.", she answered as coolly as she could.

So Casey ran through the whole school for half an hour and she just was not able to find the registry and now with all the students coming she got even more. Oh, and not to forget Derek who kept following her everywhere. Finally she gave in.

"Derek?"

"Yes, Casey?", he could not help but smile now.

"Would you please show me where the registry is?"

"Of course, I could not turn down a pretty girl in her hour of need. Follow me please." Casey rolled her eyes again and then followed him to the registry. She ran passed that room a thousand times, but she just was so mad at Derek that she has not noticed.

"Thanks." Then she walked inside and the secretary gave her all her important information. Unfortunately she had to share her locker with another student, but she did not even have time to put her things into the locker. She talked for about two seconds with her new councillor Paul and then he led her to her English class. She got introduced to her new teacher and then Paul picked someone of the students to give Casey a tour around school.

"Derek, would you please give Casey a tour around school?" _Oh no_, she thought, _not Derek._

"Of course.", he said following them out of the classroom.

So, that is the next chapter and I really hope you like. Because this is my first fanfic it would be great to get reviews to find out if you like it or what I could do better. Thanks to all who had reviewed for the first chapter.


	3. Chapter 3

Madness continues

I do not own life with Derek or any character of the show.

Madness continues

Paul, Derek and Casey were all standing in the hallway in front of the English classroom and she could still not believe what a bad luck she had. Derek never seemed to have made such tour because Paul first explained what he had to show her. "She already knows the registry, so you don't have to show her that. It would be the best when you started with her locker and then you can show her all of her new classrooms. I think you have several subjects together. After that the cafeteria and the rest of the campus. It would be nice if you had lunch with her and if you would get her to know some people. You have to be back at class for the last English lesson."

He turned his head to face Casey. "If you have a problem you can always talk to me about it. Derek will show you my office. I hope you have a good first day here." With that he turned around to go to his office.

_Great, now I have to spend even more time with Derek. Did he say we have several classes together? And the same lunchtime__?_ Derek put on his famous smile again and started with the tour.

"What number does your locker have?" The number of her new locker had to be on one of the thousand papers Paul had given her his morning. Information about the school, about extra-curricular activities and her new schedule. After about two minutes she found a small piece of paper with a number written on to it.

"I've got the locker 560."

"Okay, that's right over there." He pointed at the other side of the hallway. When they had reached the locker she realized that Paul had forgotten to give the combination to open it.

"Derek, could you show me Paul's office?"

"Don't you want to open your locker first?"

"Exactly that's my problem, he forgot to give me the combination."

"Really? Why don't you just try 42 11 2 16?" She looked doubtfully at him.

"Why should I just an imagined combination if I could just save the time and ask Paul for the combination?"

"Just try the combination!" She sighed and tried the combination he had given her. So could she at least tell him that she was right. To her own surprise the combination was correct.

"How did you…?"

Derek just interrupted her. "That's my locker. Looks like we have to share the locker for quite a while."

She was shocked. How was she supposed to ignore him when they had to share a locker? Everything had to be against her. Derek on the other hand was happy that everything was just going his way. Even when she did not want to see him, she still had to see him every day at their locker. That bought him a lot of time, even when she managed to go out of his way as often as she could. Life was always sweet to Derek Venturi. The locker looked exactly how Casey had expected his locker to look like: incredibly messy.

"Did you know that we would have to share the locker?" she asked him suspiciously. Maybe that was just another move to get her to go out with him.

"No, I didn't know that. But it is not that bad to share a locker with me."

"Only you could think that.", she answered pulling a sock out of his locker. At least he had the decency to blush about that.

"Well, I never had to share my locker before so it's going to be a new experience for both of us. Let me take that!"

His locker was full of stuff but he somehow managed to get half the locker free for Casey. She thought that it was really cute that he tried so hard to impress her and to make her feel more comfortable. She put her things into the locker, organized and tidy, and then the real tour could begin. This was about to be a long hour with Derek.

"Okay, I'm supposed to show all of your new classrooms. What would you have after English?" She took a look at her schedule.

"Science. I have biology this term."

"Great, that's room 17 with Mr. Thompson."

"Do you know that teacher", she asked curiously. She had always been good in science and she would prefer to keep it that way. She was not a science freak but she still wanted to go medical school, so she tried hard especially in science.

"Yeah, he looks like a typical science geek but he at least teaches his subject like he would really care about it. Do you understand what I mean?"

She knew exactly what he was talking about and wondered why a guy like him cared. She thought that a lot of teachers just did their own thing and did not care whether the students were interested or not. They seemed to have lost their passion for teaching. Sometimes she asked herself why some people had chosen that job, even though they do not like children at all. That she cared about that was not a miracle, but Derek? He was a typical popular high school student: arrogant, athletic, funny, charismatic and too cool to study. Guys like him did usually not care about classes or grades.

"I wish I still had Mr. Thompson, he always made classes way more interesting than other teachers. I was a good student at his class, but now…"

"So you're not a good student anymore?"

"Not really. There are a lot of things I just don't understand. And the teachers don't really try to explain."

"I could help you some time." The words had been out of her mouth before she really had thought about it. Derek was incredibly happy about her offer because that was more time to spend with her and to accomplish his plan. Of course he had to be careful not to make it too obvious how happy he was about it or she would not give him a chance at all. But his plan was working way better that he had thought.

"That would be great. We could study for the next test together." Now it was too late to take her offer back so she had to live with it at the moment.

"Yeah, sure. Let's continue with tour." So he shew her the whole school and they walked back to their English class.

After English she had science and Derek insisted to lead her to the science classroom though he had something else. Finally she had some time to breath. She could swear that he had been staring at her during the whole English lesson. Casey's new lab partner was a girl called Emily, she was very nice and offered Casey to have lunch together.

"That would be really great. I don't know a lot of people here, yet."

"That's just a question of time and I would really like to be your friend. You seem to be a great person. Maybe we could do something this afternoon?" They were on their way to the cafeteria.

"That is great idea. Maybe…" But she was cut off by a person coming from behind and positioning himself between Emily and Casey. Derek.

"So, I see you found a friend, that's nice. Shall we go and have lunch?"

"Derek, the tour is over and I wanted to have lunch with Emily. But still thanks for your offer."

"That's no problem, Emily can join us, too. Come on, I want you to meet some friends of mine." "I can really meet people on my own."

"Yeah, I sure believe that, but Paul told me to do that."

Now Emily found her way back into the conversation. She had had a crush on Derek forever, but now she was over it and accepted that she was not his type. It surprised her that Derek tried to impress Casey. Usually he asked a girl out and after one date it had been over. But this time she could really feel sparks flying between them. This was about to be interesting and she should definitely keep an eye on her new friend.

"Since when do you do what teachers told you, Derek?" What did these girls all think about him? He was not that bad.

"Well, Casey here doesn't know anybody so I thought she should get to know some cool people." Emily looked offended.

"Okay, wrong choice of words. I think she should get to know more cool people."

"That sounds better."

"Derek, it's really nice of you to care about me so much but I think Emily and I are good without you."

She did really not want to eat lunch with him. On their way to the cafeteria all the girls shot mean glances at her. That was the last thing that she needed at the new school, that all female students hated her. But Derek did not want to hear anything and they had to sit at his table and she had to meet his friends. Sam and Ralph were really nice and cute, at least Sam, but not as cute as Derek. It was awful, she compared every boy she saw with Derek. He was already all over her.

After lunch he insisted to walk with her to class and in the Spanish classroom he sat down right next to her. He noticed that she wrote everything down in a binder and marked every homework they got twice with a red biro. After Spanish there was just history left. Again he walked her to class and sat down next to her. Every guy at school knew by now that they better keep their hands and eyes off Casey.

When history class was over Casey grabbed her things as fast as she possibly could, so that he was not able to talk to her anymore. But that was not so important, because he was going to talk to her soon enough. She had forgotten her binder and there was all her homework in. She could not forget doing her homework on her first day, that would leave a very bad first impression behind and could hurt her reputation. He opened the binder, read her direction and walked out of the school with a big smile. Everything was going his way.

I hope you liked it. Please review. Please, please, please.


	4. Chapter 4

First Real Love

Disclaimer: I do not own Life with Derek or any character of the show, though I wish I would

Chapter 4

My Mum the teenager

It was the first time in her that Casey did something like that. Right after school she and Emily went together to the mall. They had been shopping for three hours and Casey had found a nice blue shirt there with a matching jeans skirt. Emily wanted to stay a little longer but Casey insisted on going home because she still had to do her homework. Normally she did her homework first and after that she could have fun. Of course she did not want to do that too often but she thought that one time would not hurt. Another reason why she would not stay longer at the mall was that the family had a routine and they always ate dinner at seven. When Emily drove Casey home they realized that she almost lived right across the street of Emily's house.

"Casey, we could drive to school together everyday. Isn't that great. Except you would prefer to get a ride with Derek."

"What are you talking about? Why should I get a ride with Derek?"

"Oh, you don't seem to know."

"Emily, what do I not know?" But Emily already turned around to go home.

"Nothing, see you tomorrow!"

"Yeah, see you tomorrow." _Well, that was sure strange. There was something Emily did not tell me and I do not think that I like that._

At home her Mum was already cooking dinner.

"Hi Mum!"

"Hey Casey, how was the shopping tour with your new friend?"

"Great. I'll go upstairs to do homework now. We can talk during dinner, is that okay?"

"Of course it is. Dinner will be finished at seven."

Upstairs Casey sat down on the chair in front of her desk with her schoolbag on her lap. She was looking for her binder. Without it she would be completely lost. She was a smart girl, but without the binder she would never be able to do her homework, not just in time but at all. She had a pretty bad memory. She wrote everything into her binder so she did not forget the dates when she had to hand in her homework. Because she was so organized she always handed her homework in early. That left a good impression behind and she appreciated that. But now she could not find her binder. That was just impossible, she never lost the binder, so she took everything out of her bag. After that she started looking for it in her bedroom which was senseless and she knew it because she had not been at home all day, but despite that it was senseless she kept looking for it. It was very important for Casey what teachers thought about her and forgetting her homework in the first week at a new school was not good at all.

She was very close to tears when her Mum called her down, she did not even notice the ringing if the doorbell. Probably she had lost her binder on her way to her bedroom. She walked downstairs and saw that her Mum was talking to somebody at the door. When Nora heard her daughter walking down the stairs she turned around.

"Casey, I think you must have lost something a school. Lucky, that Derek found your binder and came here to give it to you. I don't think a lot of boys would have done this. Good manners are so rare by now. Derek, would you like to stay for dinner?"

She walked downstairs and took the binder out of Derek's hand so violently that she almost fell down. There were so many people in this world who could have found her binder, but of course Derek had to find it. Maybe he stole it? No, not even Derek would do something like that, right?

Maybe he could really be a nice and cute person at times. He came to her house to give it back to her.

Probably she was really wrong about Derek. No, no, she could let him dazzle her like that. And did her mother really have to invite him for dinner, she could have just given him five dollars.

"Mum, I don't think Derek would like to stay for dinner, because he could have plans tonight already." After that she thanked Derek, but only because she had to. Otherwise her mum would give her the "That-is-not-how-I-raised-my-daughters" talk.

"I thought you needed it back. It was really no problem, I live across the street, I'm Emily's neighbour. I should really go, but thank you for the invitation. My Dad tries to cook today and I should control if he burned the house down."

"Derek, I insist that you stay for dinner." He already had her mother in the palm of his hand.

"So, your Dad tries to cook?"

"Yeah, but we usually just order food."

"Really? Would it be impolite if I asked you why you always order food."

"Sure, Mrs. McDonald. My parents got a divorce two years ago and we stayed with our Dad. He just isn't the greatest cook." Nora was not the best cook, either.

"Oh, I'm really sorry. Casey why don't give Derek a little tour around the house until dinner is finished?" Then she just left the room.

"Well, then I will have to show you around the chaos we call home." She did not even talk to him until they reached her bedroom, the last station of the tour.

"So, why isn't your Dad coming for dinner?" He was a little nervous because he had been in several girls' bedroom, but Casey somehow mattered to him. He wanted to go out with her so she could see that he was worth it. She just had to give him a chance.

"My parents got a divorce."

"Do you miss him a lot?" At least he did not tell her that he was sorry, he knew how annoying that could be. Casey sat down on her bed, he took a seat in front of her desk because he knew that she would run out of the room when he sat down on the bed as well.

"First I did, but then I realized that he'd never been at home anyway."

"Why?"

"He had to work a lot."

"It was pretty much the same at our house. Mum worked on some research and Dad raised us on his own, though he had a job as well. When Marti was born, they started arguing a lot. I was kind of glad when they decided to get a divorce. Marti got very scared." He really had to care about his little sister, he looked so different when he talked about her.

"I know what you mean. When my Dad got a promotion, they decided to get a divorce because Mum did not want to leave Canada. Neither did Lizzie or I. But then we moved here, because Mum found a better job in London." They had so many things in common, maybe she should really go out with him. Maybe he was deeper than she thought.

"Well, lucky me you moved here." Okay, she should not go out with him. He and his stupid player behaviour. How could she think that he was deep?

Then her Mum called them because dinner was ready. She hardly talked to him anymore. Her Mum and Lizzie were absolutely fascinated by Derek and they both blushed all the time. My Mum behaved like a teenager.

A/N: I'm really sorry that I could not update any sooner, but I guess you all know the common excuse: school. I'm trying to find one or two days a week to update this story, if you are still interested. Please tell me that. And please review even if you're anonymous. Thanks to all who reviewed, you're great.


	5. Chapter 5

Disclaimer: I do not own Life with Derek or any of its characters

First Real Love

5. Chapter

Avoidance

On the next day everything had been way better for Casey, though she had almost every class with Derek, she managed to avoid him all day. She had been incredibly early at school with Emily, who had been a little surprised when Casey stood in front of her door at quarter to eight. So she did not meet Derek at their locker.

After that she hid in the library and she came almost late to English because she waited longer so that only the seat in front of the teacher was still free. After class Mrs. Brown wanted to talk to Casey about her last school and what they had done already there.

Because they had different science classes there was not even the slightest chance to meet him. Emily and Casey ate lunch outside. Every time Derek tried to talk to her in Spanish she just pretended to read a book so that he stopped trying after a while.

She met many nice people and a lot of really nice boys flirted with her. Noel, a really nice a poetic guy, but he did not look as cute as Derek did. She just could not stop comparing all people with Derek. She could not even stop thinking about him, though she tried so hard. Her thoughts always sneaked back to him. If she did not know better she would have thought that she fell in love with him. But that was just ridiculous because she hardly knew him. Sunday was the first time she had ever seen him. After Spanish there was just history left and she was incredibly happy about it.

Her teacher had the funniest idea ever, a project in groups of two people and they could choose the topic themselves. There was just one big problem: their teacher would make the groups and Casey had a rather bad feeling about that. She never had had a lot of luck with her partners, usually they wanted to work with her so they would get an A and did not have to do anything for it.

"Derek, I think you should work with Casey. Maybe then you would actually do some work." She did not have to turn around to see that there was a big smile plastered on his face.

Her day had been completely perfect until this very moment. There were so many people in this class she could have worked with but Derek haunted her. She was just not able to escape.

"Okay, you have your partners now so you can choose a topic and organize your work. I want a 3000 word essay on Monday from each group and the presentations start on Wednesday. Oh, I would like you all to have more original presentations than the last time when all of you just wrote a couple of key words on the board. You can start now!" Great, an original presentation always caused a lot of work which had to be done at home. While Derek could hardly stop smiling because he knew they would have to meet after school at home, Casey was about to freak out.

Derek sat down next to her: "Funny thing, first the locker, now the project. Are you haunting me?"

"Oh, yeah, it's so funny that I would like to cry."

"Come on, Case, I'm not that bad."

"For some reason it's hard to believe this."

"You know what? We should start working on the project."

"Seriously, you're eager to star working? Fine. Do you have an idea what topic we could write about?" Little did she know that Derek knew about this project for a long time so he picked out a few topics yesterday to impress her.

"Actually, I do. I thought we could either write about imperialism or the French Revolution." Both were very important and interesting topics girls like Casey liked.

"Derek, that's a really great idea. I don't think anybody is going to write about imperialism and its causes."

"Great! Shall we start working on this today, in the afternoon?" The sooner they started the earlier she was able to ignore him again.

"Okay, that should work." The bell rang, so class was over.

"Casey, are you coming?" Emily asked her new friend.

"Sorry Emily, but I get a ride with Derek so we can start working on the project now. Do you mind?" Derek working on a project the first day they got the assignment? Something was really not normal here.

"No, I don't mind. See you tomorrow! Do you want a ride with me in the morning or are going with Derek tomorrow, too?"

"With you, of course. Bye."

"Casey, are you ready?" Derek asked already waiting outside. Casey followed him to his car, a very ugly and old car. Then they drove home in complete silence.

A/N: I do not know if anybody is still interested in this story. If you want me to keep writing it then please review, even when you're anonymous. Otherwise I'm going to stop.


	6. Chapter 6

Disclaimer: I do not own Life with Derek or any of its characters

**First Real Love**

**Chapter 6**

**Families can be so embarrassing**

Derek was incredibly nervous. He had spent the whole last night cleaning his bedroom to show Casey that he was the perfect boy. He did not know why, but Derek felt the urge to prove to her that he was the perfect boy for her. Did he fall in love with her? He was not sure, the only thing he knew was that his heart jumped when she smiled and he just had to be close to her. This sounded so sappy and cheesy but he had to admit that this might be the first time he was in love. It all happened so fast, he saw her and nobody else mattered anymore. He wanted to play better, wanted to improve his grades, wanted to be nicer, he would do anything just so she talked to him. He even cleaned his room. If that was not a proof for his unconditional love what else could be a proof. Though she probably did not know him well enough to appreciate it.

When they finally arrived at his house he jumped out of the car before she could even unfasten her seatbelt. Then he did the most unexpected thing, he opened the door for Casey.

"Thanks, Derek."

"You're welcome. It's not a very big house, but it's enough for us." Inside the first person they met was Marti, who quickly jumped up to give Derek a big a hug. She was wearing everything in purple, even some kind of cat ears on her head.

"Hey Smerek." Smerek? Did all of her D's sound like Sm's?

"Hey Smarti!" Now she got it that was a brother-sister-thing. That was so cute.

"How is my favourite sister?" He asked tickling her.

"I'm your only sister, silly!" She giggled. "Who is that girl, Smerek?"

He put her down.

"This is Casey, she is new in town."

"Hi Casey, I'm Marti. I like purple. Do you like purple?" Could a person not find this girl adorable?

"Hey Marti. I like purple."

"Really? Do you want to be my friend?"

"I would love to be your friend."

"Yay, Smerek, Casey wants to be my friend. Maybe we could do something together on Saturday?"

"Smarti, maybe Casey already has plans on Saturday or she might prefer to do something else." Marti got really disappointed.

"I don't have any plans on Saturday."

"Great!"

"Smarti, we have to study, could we discuss the rest later?"

"Okay. Bye Case!" Marti jumped into the kitchen looking more like a kangaroo than a cat. Then Derek led her to his bedroom. It looked a lot different than she had imagined. She thought it would be messy with his hockey stuff in the middle of the room and posters with cars and half naked women on the walls. But there were just posters with hockey players. She could live with that. She could live with that? She did not want to live with that because she did not have any feelings for Derek Venturi.

"You don't have to." He said.

"You don't have to what? Could you try to speak in full sentences?"

"Sorry, you don't have to play with my sister on Saturday."

"But I already promised her and Casey McDonald keeps all of her promises."

"Okay, but I don't want you to feel obligated to play with Marti. I could understand if you just said that so she wouldn't get disappointed. I don't think anybody could tell her no."  
"Me neither. You're sister is so adorable. I love kids."

"Yeah, children are great. But sometimes they do really stupid things."

"When Lizzie was five years old she was convinced that the neighbour's dog told her he was hungry so she gave him cookies every day."

"That's nothing! Edwin slept in the bathtub for two weeks because he thought there was a monster under his bed."

"When we still had a cat I pulled a pink sweater on him because I thought he was cold. Then he couldn't move and fell down after a couple of steps."

"When Edwin was still a baby I sneaked out of my bedroom to sleep in front of his crib because Mum once told me that he would sleep better then." He could not believe he just told her that. He had never told anybody about this, it was too embarrassing. He blushed.

"Derek, you don't have to be embarrassed. That is so cute. I wish I would have been like that but I liked my bed way too much to sleep on the floor." She had not expected Derek to be so selfless. He would really do anything for his siblings.

He tried to change the topic. "Do you want to sit on the bed?" Did she want to sit on the bed? In a bedroom where the door was closed?

"No. How about we sit down on the floor?"

"You want to sit on the floor?"

"Sure, it looks very clean to me." He thanked god again for he great idea to clean his bedroom yesterday. Then he noticed that Casey was staring at something behind him. He turned around to see what she was staring at. It was the door. The closed door. She was that nervous because of the closed door? He had not even noticed that he had closed it. Nobody but his family or Sam and Ralph had ever been to his bedroom and then it did not matter if he closed the door. He should have thought about this sooner. He wanted to change his strategy and show her what kind of a great person he was and now she probably thought he wanted to pull some move on her. And he even asked he if she wanted to sit down on his bed. He was so stupid!

"Do you want to drink something?"

"Yeah, water would be nice."

"I'll get you one." He left the room to go to the kitchen and he left the door open. That was his only chance to open the door without looking stupid and causing an embarrassed silence.

"Hi Case!" Casey turned around to see Marti in the room.

"Hey Marti!" She sat down on Derek's chair and Marti sat down on her lap.

"So, what do you want to do on Saturday?" Casey asked her.

"We could have a tea party!"

"Sounds like a great idea. Maybe my little sister could join us, too. She hardly knows anybody."

"Yeah, the more the merrier." Marti snuggled into Casey.

"When do you want us to come over then?"

"At three?"  
"Three sounds good."

"You're the best girlfriend Derek ever had!" She did not correct Marti because she knew she would not understand. But she was curious what she meant.

"Really?"

"None of his girlfriends ever did something with me. I like you way better. And he never brought any of them home but Kendra, but she scared me."  
"Why?"

"Because she said she wanted to eat me right up."

"Hey Smarti, what are you doing here?" Derek was back with two bottles of water.

"I was entertaining Casey because she looked bored."

"Well, lucky you've been here otherwise she would have died from boredom."

"I know. Sir-Monks-A-Lot is waiting for me, I have to go." Casey was about to get off the chair.

"How about you stay there and I sit down o the bed and we start working."

"Okay!" Then they started studying and finished the project within three hours. Derek did a lot of work and really had a lot of great ideas. They even finished there presentation with a big map and posters with the most important dates and causes. Derek had a great knowledge, he was impressed himself. At seven Casey had to leave for dinner, on their way downstairs they met a really strange smell and Derek's dad.

"Hi, I'm George Venturi, Derek's dad. You have to be Casey, Marti mentioned you earlier. "

"Hello, I'm Casey McDonald."

"What a polite girl. Are you sure you're in the right house?" Casey was rather confused.

"Dad!"

"Oh, come on, you've never brought a nice girl home, just Kendra. And you've never studied.

This girl is not just pretty, she is also smart and polite. I don't know what you've done to make Derek study, but keep doing it. He even cleaned his bedroom yesterday."

She did really not know what to answer, she was too embarrassed. "I have to go home, dinner has to be finished. It was nice to meet you Mr. Venturi." Derek led her to the front door.

"I'm sorry for my dad. See you tomorrow, Casey!" Derek looked really embarrassed.

"It's okay. Bye!" And she even smiled at him but not because she was happy to leave. She had had a lot of fun with Derek this afternoon.

A/N: I do not know if anybody is still interested in this story. If you want me to keep writing it then please review, even when you're anonymous. Otherwise I'm going to stop.


	7. Chapter 7

Disclaimer: I do not own Life with Derek or any of its characters

**First Real Love**

**Chapter 7 **

He could not sleep all night. He knew that Casey liked him and she was just too stubborn to accept it. He also knew that they both got a lot closer yesterday but everything worked just so slowly. Every other girl would go out with him instantly, only Casey McDonald had to prove that she was not interested into a boy like him. Although he understood what she was thinking and the little conversation with his dad did probably not help, either. Kendra had been the only real girlfriend he had ever had, all the others had simply been dates. Maybe he had not been too serious back then because he had spread the rumour of breaking up with her so he did not have to buy a Valentine's Day gift. That had been the worst thing he had ever done and he knew that.

He also had dated girls he did not like just to say that he had dated them.

But it was different with Casey. He really liked her and he had the feeling that he could tell her anything. The thing that probably scared him the most was that he could listen to her all day. He wanted to listen to her more than anything else. Well, maybe not anything else, he wanted to listen to her, too, but the listening was second.

His father entered the kitchen and saw Derek sitting at the kitchen table at half past seven in the morning. George got seriously worried about his son. First he cleaned his bedroom, then he studied (he knew that because he had been eavesdropping. He did not trust his son alone in his bedroom with a girl.) and he was sitting fully dressed and ready for school at the table in the kitchen with his cereal. He even made his breakfast himself.

George crossed the kitchen and put his hand onto Derek's forehead.

"That feels normal. What's wrong?" He sat down next to Derek.

"What are you talking about?"

"Derek, I really appreciate all these changes you made from Monday to Wednesday but I can't imagine you doing all these things without a reason. I'm your father and you can tell me anything." Should he tell his dad that he just had girl problems? Maybe he could help him. Though when he seriously thought about it, his father was anything but talented with women.

Once he had met a woman at a grocery store and he told her that she had beautiful melons. Melons. And then he had been so nervous that he was staring at her stomach so she thought that he had been staring at something else and slapped him. Should he ask such a person for advice?

"Dad, there is nothing to tell."

"Don't lie to me, Derek. Did you get a bad grade in an essay, fail a class, pranked the football team or pranked the principal."

"No." Then George remembered Casey.

"Do you have problems with girls?" Derek flinched. "So, you've got a problem with a girl. Casey?" Now he had to tell him because his dad got all excited. He loved giving advice to anybody who would hold still long enough.

"Mmh. She doesn't want to go out with me."

"Really? That has to be the first time a girl does not want to go out with you."

"Thanks for pointing out the obvious, but that does not help me at all."

"Why doesn't she want to go out you?"

"Not her type."

"Did she tell you that?"

"Not with words."

"Then you have to convince to go out with you."

"I already tried that, didn't work."

"That is why you have been studying. Maybe you have to give her more time."

"How much time?"

"I don't know how much time Casey needs. Just show her that you can be a nice guy and that you really want to date her."

"Are you sure?"

"Of course, when I had been your age girls liked poetic and sensitive guys." When he was sixteen a lot of things had been different, there were still dinosaurs alive. Were girls still the same? Casey seemed to be a very poetic person, her bedroom had been full of books, especially Shakespeare.

"Dad, do we have a couple of Shakespeare books. He wrote all this poetic stuff, right?"

"It's called sonnets, Derek. I think I still have a couple of his books, I used to impress your Mum with my knowledge." Though it had rather made Abby laugh then melt, but he better kept that to himself. Derek was on his way to the basement already anyway.

A/N: I do not know if anybody is still interested in this story. If you want me to keep writing it then please review, even when you're anonymous. Otherwise I'm going to stop.


	8. Chapter 8

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the Life with Derek characters.

**First Real Love**

**Chapter 8**

She had to do something. Things between Derek and Casey were working a lot too well. That could not happen.

"Hey, you're Casey, right?" There was a tall handsome boy standing right in front of her. He had a wonderful smile. He looked almost as good as Derek. Maybe that was the solution to her problem.

"Yes, I am. May I ask who you are?"

"I'm Max. I hoped you would go out with me this Friday?" He looked at her hopefully.

"Yes, that sounds really great." She thought that he was a good solution to her Derek problem.

"Then I pick you up at seven?"

"Okay, you still need my address, right?"

"No, I've asked somebody for it already. See you on Friday." Max turned around and when he was out of sight she heard a loud and high squeal right behind her.

"Oh my god, you're going out with Max Miller."

"Is that a good thing?"

"He's the quarterback on the football team. What about Derek?"

"What do you mean?" Not Emily, too. She and Casey were on their way to the cafeteria and Casey rally did not want to talk about Derek now.

"I thought you were dating Derek?"

"No, I'm not."

"Why not? I think he wants to. Didn't he ask you out?"

"He did but I didn't want to." A girl who did not want to go out with Derek, that had to be a first. Though she knew Casey was lying. Emily had had a crush on Derek since she was one year old though he gave her his full diaper as a gift for her birthday. It was really disgusting but what else could he have given as her as a present at this age. But she knew that Derek just saw the good friend in her. Though last year he said guys and girls could not be friends, but that was a long story.

"I think you would really be a cute couple."

"Well, then I think you should talk to my mother because she thinks the same." Derek visited her and got to know her mother? This was even more serious than she had thought.

"How come he knows your Mum?"

"He found my binder on the first day of school and brought it to my house. Then he stayed for dinner. My Mum behaved like a hormonal teenager laughing a everything he said. I swear she even blushed." It was already too late when Casey realized that Emily was heading into Derek's direction. Now she had to sit in front of him otherwise it would look like she was hiding from him. At least she did not have to talk to him. But of course her new best friend had to make conversation with him.

"Hey Derek, what are you reading?" This was the first time she noticed that Derek was reading a book. A book, not even a comic. And it was a thick book.

"Shakespearean sonnets." Derek read Shakespearean sonnets? Casey loved these sonnets. They were so romantic and beautiful.

"I didn't know you liked Shakespeare, Derek?"

"Of course you didn't because you both think I'm just an uncivilized boy whose only interested hockey. I can be really deep." He closed the book.

"Which one is your favourite sonnet?" Casey asked him. She had to test him. She did not think that he could say anything about Shakespeare without reading it in this book.

"A lot of people like Sonnet 18 because of its simplicity and beauty but I prefer Sonnet 116." That was her favourite sonnet, too.

"Especially the religious allusions Shakespeare uses emphasize love's importance and power, love is divine." Casey got up and left the cafeteria.

"What's wrong with her?"

"I think you really impressed her, Derek?"

"I don't think so. Why she leave when I impressed her?"

"I don't think she wants to admit how much she likes you. But I think you have a problem."

"What kind of a problem?" He frowned. Didn't he have enough problems already?

"Max Miller asked her out five minutes ago and she accepted."

"Great, the football dork. Why does she accept to go out with him but not with me? I can't be that much more stupid than he is."

"Derek, you're not stupid, you just don't want to try. You're lazy. Reading poetry was clever. I also heard that you finished the project yesterday and that you've been very well prepared."

"I've spent hours researching on the internet. What am I supposed to do now?"

"Okay, I've done a little research on Max and gave him a few pieces of advice about Casey. All you have to do now…"

A/N: First thanks to all who have reviewed for this story. You're the best. I hope what I wrote about the Shakespearean sonnet is right, I wrote it in my analysis and my teacher said it was good but they tell us a lot of things which are wrong. Please review and tell me what you think about this chapter even if you're anonymous.


	9. Chapter 9

**Disclaimer: I don't own any of the Life with Derek characters.**

**Chapter 9**

Max was the perfect gentleman and Casey got the impression that he really was boyfriend material unlike some other boys.

When he reached her house exactly at seven o'clock he rang the doorbell and introduced himself to her mother. He also talked to Lizzie and made Casey a compliment on how great she looked.

She had been searching for the right outfit forever and in the end she decided on tight blue jeans and a red sweater. You are always dressed well with jeans, right? She left her hair open so it fell in long soft waves over her shoulders.

In the car they talked about their hobbies, favourite bands and books. That was the point when Casey realized that they had nothing in common but she was still convinced that he would be her perfect first boyfriend. Opposites attract, right?

Maybe she liked dancing and he liked football or the only thing he read was the sport's section in the papers and she loved poetry but that did not have to be a problem.

The only thing which really worried her was the restaurant he had chosen: Smelly Nellie's.

Did Smelly Nellie's sound like a good restaurant? She did not think so but she also did not want to ruin their first they arrived at the restaurant and Max led her inside she was surprised by how clean it was and by how friendly the waitress treated the costumers.

Everything had been so perfect until the moment Derek came.

"Casey, what a surprise! Can I sit with you I'm so lonely on my own?" He did of course not even wait for an answer but sat down next to Casey.

Max stared at Derek like he had three heads and horns. He had a date with Casey and this jerk had to ruin it. Then Derek even took it a step further and put his arm around Casey.

"What have we been talking about?" He asked Casey ignoring Max completely.

Casey shrugged his arm off her shoulders. "We haven't been talking about anything and we won't. Max and I are on a date. Would you please leave?"

"What if I said no?" That was the moment Casey started hitting Derek and everybody at the restaurant stared at them.

"Derek, I'm on a date and you're ruining it. I hate you, I hate you, I hate you…" Derek took her hands to stop her from smashing his chest into pieces. That girl really had strong arms.

"Honey, I know it's difficult to keep your hands off me but you're still on a date." She did not even know what to answer to this. She hated him so much.

"Mmh, Casey, I think I'll better leave you two alone so you can sort this. Derek, can you give her a ride home?" He got up and put money on the table.

"Sure." Derek smirked. Everything worked according to plan.

"I'll see you on Monday at school, Casey!" He left without giving her the chance to say something.

"So, dessert's on me?" Casey turned around to face Derek and she looked like she was about to explode.

But then she decided to stay calm. "Derek, take me home!"

"What? But…"

"Derek, take me home now!" Without saying another word she left the restaurant and sat down in his car. The whole ride long she did not say one single word. When they finally reached the house she just left the car without looking at him.

Casey was giving Derek the silent treatment and she was so good at it. He was so doomed.

A/N: I'm sorry it took so long. Thanks to all who reviewed. You're awesome. Please review for this chapter. Please, please, please? Review even if you're anonymous.


	10. Chapter 10

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the Life with Derek characters

First Real Love

Chapter 10

She was so mad at Derek. She was so mad at him that she wanted to kill him, find a way to reanimate him, so she could kill him again.

She even considered not visiting Marti but this would not be fair. His cute little sister did not deserve it. It was not her fault that her brother was the most insensitive jerk in the entire universe. Casey was of course not just mad at Derek, but also at Max. He just left without even asking her what she wanted. In Casey's opinion a boy had to fight for her. Did she not mean anything to him?

Max did not exist for her anymore, but maybe she should go out with this boy from science class. What was his name again? It had been something with and "N". Was it Neil, Noah or Noel? Right, it was Noel.

Maybe she should tell Emily that she would like to go out with Noel. Emily would be as subtle as ever to let it slip in front of his friends so that he would ask her out. She did not think that Emily would mind doing that for her. According to her research Noel was not seeing anybody.

That time Derek would not interfere because he would not find out about it. How did he find out about in the first place? Only Emily knew and Max. Maybe Max told somebody else who told his best friend who told his girlfriend who told her best friend who told Derek? Now she could not even remember who told who anymore. It did not matter because Marti was waiting for her. She just grabbed her jacket, not even knowing why, and left the house.

When she rang the doorbell she hoped Mr. Venturi would open the door but of course it was Derek.

"Casey, it's great that you're here. Would you like to come in?" He stepped aside so she could enter the house. She just went inside without looking at him.

"Listen, I'm really sorry for what happened yesterday. I just… are you even listening to me?" She was just staring at the ceiling, ignoring him. Derek Venturi was not used to being ignored especially by girls.

"So, still giving me the silent treatment. If you do not even want to talk to me why are you here?"

Like on a cue Marti came down dressed up as a bride. "Hi, Casey."

"Hi, Marti." Casey smiled and picked her up. "What would you like to do?" She tickled the little girl.

Derek was more than just shocked. Casey was there for Marti and not for him. This world was just so cruel.

Marti giggled. "I would like to have a tea party with Sir-Monks-A-Lot and you."

"A tea party it is. Where do you want me to go?" She was just so adorable with Marti.

If Derek was able to fall any harder for Casey it would be this very moment.

"Upstairs to my bedroom."

"Do you want me to come with you again, Smarti?" He hoped she would say yes so he could spend more time with Casey.

"No Smerek, it's just for girls today."

"Since when is Sir Monks-A-Lot a girl?"

"Well, he is the exception to the rule."

"I thought I was the exception to all the rules?"

"Not today." Then they left the living room. What should he do? He absolutely blew it.

Three hours later Derek was in the living-room watching TV. He tried to sneak into Marti's room for about a hundred times. She always threw him out. Once he came with something to drink, once with chocolate, once with ice-cream and once he dressed up as a clown. Marti always told him that it was a girl's day. He was so desperate that he seriously considered putting on a dress.

Suddenly he heard steps behind him. It was Casey. He stood up immediately but before he could say one word she already left the house. He ruined it completely.

"Hey Smerek, what's wrong?" Marti came downstairs with her stuffed monkey.

"Nothing. How was your tea party?" He sat down on the couch and Marti climbed on his lap.

"Fine. Casey is really great. Smerek, I'm not a baby anymore! You like her, right?"

"Is it that obvious?"

"Even dad noticed." That was bad. George usually did not notice anything. Like the time when all of his children told him that he did put on weight and that he still looked like 20 years ago. How were they supposed to know how he looked 20 years ago? Derek was 16.

"Why don't you ask her out?"

"I did."

"Did she turn you down?"

"More than once."

"Maybe she just does not like you?" He tickled his little sister.

"You sure know how to build people up."

"Smerek, I'm your sister not your therapist. Maybe I had better advice if you paid me?"

"Really?"

"Or we could go upstairs and play dress up?"

"And why should I do that?" Marti put on her best pout. He had to play with her or her plan would not work out.

"Because I could tell you some things about Casey." He knew that Marti could not help him but he still accepted to play dress up with her. Probably he could at least forget Casey for a while. _My life is so horrible_, he thought when he carried Marti upstairs.

A/N: I know it's been a long time since I've updated, but you know how school is. And I really hate typing; I wish somebody would do that for me. Thanks to all people who reviewed. I don't think a lot of people are very interested into this story anymore so I'm going to finish it with the next chapter. Please review, even if you're anonymous. Please????


	11. Chapter 11

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the Life with Derek characters

First Real Love

Chapter 11

She had to. She just had to. She knew she had to go back but she did not want to. How could she be so stupid to forget her jacket at Derek's house? She had to be the person with the worst luck in the entire world. But she had to go.

_This is a lot worse than the dress I had considered, _Derek thought. That was the best proof for loving his sister more than anything else in this world he had. They were having a tea party and Derek was Mrs. Buttercup. He had a lot of make-up on his (he did not even know Marti had so much make-up) and a really ugly hat on his head. It was the kind of hat your grandmother wore in winter because she thought it was hip (because that was what the youth said today, right?).

When did Grandmas finally understand that it just sounds stupid when they said things were cool or hip? Everything which they said was hip was actually incredibly old fashioned and ugly. Now imagine your grandmother in such an ugly hat saying something like "what's shaking?" in front of all of your friends. Would that be cool? He did not think so.

Suddenly he was interrupted in his really important and philosophical train of thought by the ringing doorbell. _Hopefully this is not grandma, she smells so weird_.

"That has to be Casey?"

Derek jumped up. "Casey? Why Casey?"

"Because she left her jacket here." Marti should better not mention that she hid her jacket so she would forget. Her brother needed all the help he could get. People always said that children her age did not understand anything. Marti did understand that her brother was too stupid to get a girl like Casey without help. Good that she knew exactly what to do.

Derek already stormed downstairs and opened the door.

When Derek opened the door Casey could not help but laugh. He had a lot of make-up on his face. And this hat was just hilarious. Her grandma in Toronto had the same and she always said it was hip.

While Casey was laughing so hard until she started crying Derek tried to figure out what she was laughing about. Though his thinking was not working too great because he got distracted by how beautiful she looked.

"May I ask what you're laughing about?" Casey was so out of breath that she could not speak so she just pointed at his face. Then he realized what she was laughing about and he blushed, though because of all the blush Marti put on his face it was not noticeable.

"Hi Casey! Doesn't Derek look pretty?" Casey finally managed to calm down and took a good look on to his face. Everything was just a lot too much but it was so cute that he let her do that. He really loves his sister.

"You're right, he looks really pretty."

""Okay, I'm really happy you had a good laugh on my expense. Now I would like to get the colour off my face." Then he stormed upstairs to the bathroom.

"I think your brother is really mad at me." She looked at Marti and felt so guilty for laughing about Derek. He had to be more than just mad at her.

"Yeah. But you have been mad at him before. Now you're even."

"You might not have an idea what I am supposed to do now?"

"How about you help him getting the make-up off his face? The last time we played dress up he could not get the glitter off for two weeks."

"Good idea." So she made her way upstairs.

Somebody knocked on the bathroom door. Derek was trying to wash the make-up off his face but it did not work.

"What?"

She heard that he was in a really bad mood so she better asked: "May I come inside?"

He had made a complete fool out of himself. Should he let her in so she could laugh again?

"Why?"

"Because we need to talk and I'm a girl."

"How exactly is that supposed to help me?"

"I know how to get the make-up off your face." That was an argument. He had still not forgotten the last time he had not been able to get the glitter off his face. All classmates had been laughing about him for weeks. It had been worse than being called Dereka. That memory was enough to convince him to open the door.

"Hey!" She smiled but he just grunted at her.

"You wanted to talk?" She made a gesture with her hand so he would sit down on the corner of the bathing tub. Then Casey took a towel and put it into the water.

"I know you're really mad at me." He grunted in agreement. "And I was really mad at you for ruining my date. I think now we're even and we should start over. Hi, I'm Casey McDonald. Are you new here?"

"Shouldn't I say this?" Casey started rubbing the make-up off his face gently.

"Fine, but I don't think that you can imitate my voice."

"Hi, I'm Derek Venturi. Are you new here?"

"I'm Casey and I just moved here from Toronto."

"What do you like to do in your free time?"

"I like to dance and I love reading. My favourite author is Shakespeare."

"I love Shakespeare, too." She looked at him suspiciously. "Hey, I admit I didn't before but I tried really hard to impress you. So I tried to understand the sonnets, at least some of them."

"Really? Which sonnet is your favourite?" She wanted to test him and he knew that. So he should just brag with his huge knowledge.

"Sonnet 116. Shakespeare gives a definition of true love. "Let me not to the marriage of true minds admit impediments. Love is not love which alters when it alteration finds or bend with the remover to remove. O no, it…""

"Okay, I believe you. So now that all the make-up is gone and you look so manly again, would you please ask me out?"

Finally, she wanted to go out with him. It was about time.

"Would you like to go out with me tonight, Casey?"

"Yes, now get up and kiss me already!" That was something she did not have to tell him twice. He got up, pulled her into his arms and kissed her. None of them thought that a kiss could feel that way, but obviously they were both wrong. It was the best kiss they ever experienced.

When Marti saw them she only thought: "_Finally, it was about time. Without me they would be fighting until graduation. Come on, Daphne, let's find Edwin, he stole Sir Monks-A-Lot again. He is so disgusting." _

_**The End**_

A/N: I'm really sorry it took me so long but I was not satisfied with this chapter and I'm still not too happy with the ending. I would really appreciate if you review and tell me what you think. **Even if you're anonymous. **Thanks to everybody who reviewed for the last chapter or any chapter in general. It was great that you took the time to give a feedback.


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